March 3, 2020 
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has just alerted the research community that populations with Substance Use Disorders may be more susceptible to coronavirus. On Monday, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) posted COVID-19 guidance providing potential flexibility for opioid treatment programs.
Fentanyl remains the leading driver of the nation’s overdose crisis. According to the CDC, preliminary data predicts more than 70,000 drug overdose deaths for the 12-month period ending in November 2025 with synthetic opioids, primarily illicitly manufactured fentanyl, involved in the majority of those deaths. Only 2 milligrams of fentanyl, an amount small enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, can be a lethal dose.
The only constant in life is change, something that most coalition leaders deal with constantly. And yet, it’s rarely something that they feel fully prepared for. This topic was front and center in CADCA’s Competencies in Focus webinar, which focused on change management.
Prevention work doesn’t often translate easily into words, especially to people seeing it from the outside. It’s meetings in school cafeterias after hours, community data translated into action plans, and neighbors organizing around issues that are deeply personal.
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